Former champion Pavlik leaning towards Canelo to upset Golovkin

Former middleweight world champion Kelly Pavlik is giving the edge to Saul ‘Canelo Alvarez to upset Gennady Golovkin on September 16 when the two combatants square off for the unified middleweight championship at T-Mobile Aena in Las Vegas.

“I am leaning towards him [Canelo],” Pavlik told FightNights.com. “The longer the fight goes, the better for him. I’ve seen with Triple-G the last two fights, it looks like muscle fatigue and muscle tiredness in these fights.

Pavlik claims Golovkin suffered from muscle fatigue in the Kell Brook and Daniel Jacobs fights, which he won via sixth-round TKO and points, respectively.

“He was shaking his arms out after the third round [during the Brook fight]; same thing with Jacobs,” he added. Unfortunately, though, when you have power like Triple-G, anything can happen in the fight.”

When asked if Canelo’s extra muscle mass would generate endurance problems for the Mexican, Pavlik said it depends on how it was added.

“If he was pumping weights, that’s not a good thing. But, if he had a natural way of getting strong and things like that, I don’t see it hurting him. But, we’ll find out tomorrow night.”

Pavlik retired in 2012 with a record of 40-2 with 34 knockouts. He won the unified WBC, WBO, Ring Magazine, and lineal middleweight titles by knocking out Jermain Taylor in 2007, and made three successful title defenses before losing to Sergio Martinez in 2010. His final bout was a 10-round unanimous decision victory over former four-time New York Golden Gloves champion Will Rosinsky.

Canelo-Golovkin will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT.